The Chosen One & his Dragons
by Rtwynu
Summary: After losing her husband, Kushina Uzumaki was left to raise their son by herself. With his mother's strength, Naruto Uzumaki will grow to be an exceptional, if not unorthodox, shinobi and become the Child of Prophecy. The person who will do battle against the two Great Beasts that dare rip the world apart and threaten the people he loves. Naruto x Harem.
1. Chapter 1 - The Shishin

**Chapter 1 – The Shishin**

 **o~0~o**

Kushina Uzumaki, one of the last surviving members of the once great Uzumaki clan, was stood in the centre of a huge room.

While usually, Kushina was in the running for both the most beautiful and most powerful woman in Konohagakure, tonight she had seen better days. This was the night the Kyūbi, a creature of immense power, was ripped from the Four Symbols Seal she possessed. However, compared to any other person who has a Tailed Beast, or any other beast sealed within them, also known as Jinchuriki, Kushina was quite well off as thanks to her Uzumaki blood which grants a strong life force she was able to survive the extraction.

Now if having a huge fox made entirely of chakra ripped out of her wasn't enough, her husband, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure sacrificed himself to partially seal the great beast into their newly born son using a seal created by her own clan named Dead Demon Consuming Seal. While the seal is extremely powerful and very few things can escape its grasp, it comes at a high price, the caster's life.

Kushina remembered begging him not to do it and let her do it but her husband told her he couldn't do that, their son needed her. While she agreed with him and she was glad to have survived the ordeal, not having Minato there by her side and never will be again was a loss in her book.

The thoughts of her husband's last moments were too much for her and the tears just wouldn't stop as she cried silently into her forearm.

"Minato." She whispered, "What am I going to do? I don't think I can do this on my own. I'm not strong enough." She continued between sobs.

She would have kept going if it wasn't for the movement she felt on her stomach. Moving her arm away, she looked down and saw her little boy wrapped comfortably in a white wrap cradled between her arm and stomach. He was still asleep but was agitated by the tears that had dripped down onto his face. He had the same spiky blonde hair and blue eyes as his father.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Naruto." She whispered, gently wiping away the tears from her son's face.

Just looking at his little face helped her a lot, the pain and sorrow was still there but seeing the creation her and Minato's love had made was enough to counterbalance those feelings. They had named him Naruto after the main character of the first book Minato's sensei wrote; The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

"You are the spitting image of your father, Naruto." She commented, stroking the whisker-like birthmarks he had on his cheeks with her thumb. "I just know I'll have to beat the girls away with a stick when you're older."

While focusing on the sleeping form of her son she heard thunder rumbling coming from the east. Her eyes darted from him to the direction the sound was coming from. Her newfound motherly instincts kicked as she shifted Naruto in her arms to put her body between him and the thunder. She watched with both awe and caution as storm clouds as black as night formed just under the ceiling of the room, which even with a chakra enhanced jump Kushina doubted that she could reach on a good day, as it grew bolts of lightning dancing in and out of them.

Just as she thought the storm clouds were the worst thing she had to deal with her stomach dropped when the clouds began to shift and what looked to be a huge snake with scales the same colour as the lightning snaked in and out of the clouds. It wasn't until she saw the creature's head that the exhausted haze she had been under lifted and she recognised that it was a Serpent Dragon.

Looking at the front left claw of the beast she saw it was clutching a large blue orb, "Lord Jikokuten." Kushina said, realising who it was.

She didn't have any time to ask why the Azure Dragon of the East was here when the room erupted with a warm orange blow. Kushina hit with heat from her left, now faced the south she saw a huge flame that was practically licking the ceiling.

Kushina focused on the flame's core as it shimmered and shifted as if possessed. It didn't take long for her to see a silhouette appear and she just watched as the flame seemed to be absorbed inwards.

Once it was all gone there was just a left gigantic red bird. It had four equally large wings, to support the body in the air, as each gently beat of the air and Kushina could even feel the resulting gentle wind from where she was standing. It also seemed that all the of flame the bird had absorbed was put into the feathers that looked to be made of the stuff.

All four of its eye was staring straight at Kushina, but her eyes had wandered to the red orb nestled in it's left talon, "Lady Zōchōten." Kushina said.

Kushina anticipated what was coming next and turned around, away from the Red Phoenix of the South, towards the north to watch as the ground became to shake and crack before exploding as a torrent of water erupted upwards. The water rocketed against the ceiling and just like the fire of Zōchōten, not one drop of the water landed on Kushina or Naruto.

Over the rushing of the water, stomping could be heard, and a silhouette seemed to be climbing out from the hole in the floor and up the water. Then as if like the silhouette was a magnet, the pieces of strewn ground gravitated back and returned to the exact place they were before the water.

The now repaired floor blocked off the water, leaving the silhouette fully visible and it landed with a crash. It was a mud brown skinned tortoise with a black shell. On that shell was what looked to be a small forest with trees that were bearing fruit that looked so delicious to eat and at the head of the shell were two stones. One was a deep brown, the same as the tortoise's skin but the other was a deep blue as if dredged straight from the ocean.

Even with the forest, it didn't stand as tall as Zōchōten. It also had two heads, both of which were looking straight at Kushina.

"Lord and Lady Tamonten," Kushina said to the Black Tortoise of the North.

Finally, Kushina looked to the west and saw the wind pick up at a fast rate, starting small but within a few seconds, a huge hurricane was whirling around on the spot. However just as quickly as it was born, it died as a tremendously large claw ripped it apart.

When the hurricane was completely gone Kushina could see that the claw belonged to an even bigger white tiger with black stripes across its entire body and four purple eyes. A quick scan of the beast showed that it also had an orb which was light grey, almost white, coiled in its tail. Its low growl echoed throughout the room adding some much-needed sound to the silence.

"Lord Kōmokuten," Kushina said.

It wasn't until the four colossal beasts had finally appeared in the room and the commotion was dying down that Naruto decided to start making a fuss. Kushina's focus turned to him as she rocked him slowly in her arms and hummed a soft tone her mother had hummed to her when she was younger. The calming sensation of being rocked and humming did work as Naruto slowly quietened down and eventually fell back asleep.

"Looks like you really do take after me, hm." Kushina said with a small smile before looking up at the White Tiger of the West, "I'm guessing I have the Shishin to thank for me surviving."

The Shishin were the most powerful summons to ever live. They even beat out the leaders of the Toad, Snake and Slug clans that were the summons of the Legendary Sannin and had been around for even longer than them. The Shishin had a close connection to the Uzumaki clan since the clan began to build itself up but not even they had any idea how far back the Shishin had been around.

"That would be correct." Zōchōten answered with a regal voice, "Thanks to your Uzumaki blood you would have been fine after a couple of months of recuperation with just having the Kyūbi extracted from you, but that wound you sustained from it would have killed you."

While she was explaining, Kushina had turned to Zōchōten, "Oh yeah." Kushina said as the memory of the Kyūbis nail impaling both her and Minato when they jumped in front of Naruto to protect him. She had adjusted Naruto in her arms, so he was supported by one and the other moved to her stomach.

The welling of emotions finally burst as she glared up at the Shishin and shouted, "If you know I was dying and what happened why didn't you do anything!? You could have saved Minato or sent one of the Deva to help. He was my husband and Naruto's father, I need him!"

"Enough Kushina!" Kōmokuten growled.

"We know you are hurting Kushina, but you know the answers to your questions. We don't know what happened tonight, all we knew is that you were dying so we reverse summoned you here and healed you. We know about the Kyūbi being extracted as we can feel half of it in young Naruto there." The motherly voice of the right head of Tamonten explained.

The other head continued with a male voice, "And you know that we can only reverse summon the Guardian of the Contract, the fact Naruto is here being a mystery."

"But Minato," Kushina whispered as a couple of tears fell.

"We are sorry, Kushina," Kōmokuten said.

The Shishin fell silent as they let Kushina grieve. The pain of losing the person she had loved for half her life was overwhelming, even for someone like her. It took a bit of time but Kushina eventually composed herself again and looked up at the Shishin, "Sorry." She apologized.

"There's no need to apologize, Kushina." The female head of Tamonten said, getting a nod of agreement from the others.

"If you are up to it Kushina could you explain what happened tonight?" Zōchōten asked.

Kushina nodded, "Yeah, I think I can do that."

Kushina went on to explain how she had gone into labour so Minato got them to a security barrier as a precaution as the seal holding back the Kyūbi was at it's weakest during childbirth, so he had to be there to make sure it didn't escape.

She said all was going fine, Naruto was born healthily, and Minato had succeeded in keeping the Kyūbi contained during the birthing but that all changed when they heard the midwives hit the floor and a man wearing a mask and a black robe was holding Naruto hostage.

He had told Minato to step away from her or he would kill Naruto but ultimately it didn't matter when he threw Naruto into the air, pointing a kunai upwards where the baby was going to fall. Minato acted quickly and teleported to Naruto but had to disappear somewhere just as quick.

Now they were alone the Masked Man walked up to her and restrained her before they both disappeared into a vortex. The next thing she knew, she was sealed on the top of a lake by seal chains wrapped around huge rocks.

The Masked Man then extracted the Kyūbi from her before taking full control of it somehow and commanded it to kill her, but she was saved by Minato and they teleported back to one of their safe houses.

Minato placed her next to Naruto before he put on his cloak and disappeared. She stayed that way for a while as the shaking and destruction outside got worse. She said she tried her hardest to keep Naruto calm. It wasn't until Minato reappeared and took them both as a huge paw crashed through the roof, destroying the house.

She said that she restrained the Kyūbi and was adamant about taking it with her when she died but Minato had different plans. He sealed half of the Kyūbi inside himself and was about to seal the second half when they threw themselves in front of Naruto to protect him from the nail of the Kyūbi.

"After that, I can't remember anything except standing here." Kushina finished.

The Shishin were quiet until Jikokuten spoke for the first time, "It's begun."

"What?" Kushina asked.

"The prophecy has begun," Jikokuten repeated.

"What prophecy?"

"The prophecy of a Great Demon returning."

"A Great Demon!" Kushina shouted, "When?"

"That I do not know. The prophecy only says that the night a great fox burns a leaf, the child with the power to fight the return of the Great Demon will be born. The child is in your arms."

Kushina moved Naruto behind her, "Naruto will do no such thing, -ttebane! While I respect the hell out of you Lord Jikokuten, you can go to hell. I've lost my husband tonight but having Naruto can keep me going. I will not lose him as well, -ttebane!"

"I know this is a tough time Kushina, so I will overlook the way you are talking to me but I'm sorry your opinion doesn't matter. This prophecy will proceed whether you like it or not." Jikokuten replied in a tone that would quiet anyone.

However, Kushina wasn't really anyone, especially tonight, "The hell it will. While I accept the fact, Naruto may want to be a Shinobi one day, I'm not going to have him risk his life for some stupid prophecy!" She shouted back.

Suddenly thunder roared as the clouds around Jikokuten were illuminated with a blue flash of lightning, "Kushina, you are the Guardian of the Contract! A position held in your clan since you broke off from the Senju. Your job was to make sure that contract did not get into the wrong hands and make it into the hands of the Child of Prophecy. And I'm sorry to say but that child is your son."

Before Kushina could argue back the female head of Tamonten chimed in, "Kushina, Jikokuten is right. Your son matches the child perfectly, but we won't know that until the Ceremony of the Blade and that won't happen until he is of age."

As the female head stopped the male one continued, "If he is the Child then you should know we will do all we can to protect him. He will sign the same contract you signed giving him access to the Deva and us when he is strong enough, so he won't be alone."

The female head started talking again, "That's not all. It was also said that the Child of Prophecy will have six companions to help him."

She didn't know why but having the calming voices of both heads of Tamonten explain it and the better points helped her come around to the idea, "While I'm still not one hundred percent on board with my baby being the Child of Prophecy. I will wait until the Ceremony of the Blade before judging. Now is there anything else?"

"No, you should go home and get some rest," Kōmokuten answered.

"Thank you and I definitely will." Kushina thanked before she disappeared in a plume of smoke along with her child.

Once she was gone the Shishin looked at each other.

"We must prepare," Jikokuten stated.

"I agree before the Great Demon was only a possibly but now it's only a matter of time before it surfaces," Zōchōten said.

"Very well, from this moment on we are on high alert and make sure the Deva are ready to fight against such a foe," Jikokuten said.

"I'd like to send Makura out to see if he can find anything out. He's the best at blending in." Kōmokuten said.

The rest of the Shishin nodded, "I agree. It is best that we at least know something about this beast. We only know that is has a great power." Jikokuten agreed.

"Very well, we shall meet here every couple of months or when something comes up. Good luck everyone." Zōchōten said before she burst into brilliant flames and all that was left was cinder that was carried away by the breeze.

Without another word the three disappear one by one. Jikokuten retreated up into the clouds that shrunk in size until nothing was left. The ground below Tamonten again cracked before falling away and was replaced by water which Tamonten stood on. They descended on the torrent of water until they were out of site and the cracked pieces of the ground rose back up from the hole and returned to the same place. Kōmokuten was the last one to leave and left in a hurricane that grew from under him.

 **o~0~o**

Kushina reappeared back in the clearing she had been taken from and where Minato died. She looked around, dreading to see it left in the same state she remembered. Luckily for her psyche, Minato's dead body wasn't anywhere to be seen. The entire clearing had been evacuated and all that was left was the destruction from the Kyūbi.

"Damage Control hasn't been here yet," Kushina said to herself, looking around. In the distance she could see the top of the Hokage Monument, the centrepiece of Konoha and the memorial to past and present Hokage, "With how exhausted I am now I won't be able to make it back to Konoha."

Kushina looked at the moon, "It's only been a few of minutes since I left. By the time it would take for Hiruzen to get from the edge of the barrier to here and clear everything up, he won't have made it back to the village yet." Focusing for a second she started again, "If I use the rest of my chakra he should be able to sense me."

Wasting no time, she flared up what chakra she had left and kept it up for as long as she could but with her level of physical exhaustion it didn't last long, and her chakra flare ceased. It wasn't much longer before her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees, making sure to keep Naruto safe and with as little disturbance as possible.

It was just as her eyelids were starting to close that she saw three people land in the clearing. Two were wearing the standard Konoha uniform of a dirt green flak coat, dark blue trousers and shirt and a headband with a leaf around their foreheads. The one in middle and a bit ahead was an old man wearing a black jumpsuit, mesh segments over the lower portions of his limbs, and a green gauntlet that covered much of his right arm. He also wore an armoured hood with a bandanna-like forehead protector over this, tied with two long straps.

"Lord Sarutobi." Kushina wheezed out.

In an instant the old man was next to her, "Kushina, you're alive! When we got here you were nowhere to be found. We were going to send search parties out looking as soon as I returned."

Kushina gave him a weak smile as she leaned against Hiruzen for support, "No need. Do you have Minato's body?" She asked, losing the smile when she did.

Hiruzen's expression also got darker at the question, "Yes. It's sealed. Kushina, what happened?"

"I'll tell you once we're back in the village, but I won't be able to make it on my own. I exhausted what chakra I had left to signal you."

"Ok." He looked to the two that arrived with him, "Hurry back to the village and get a stretcher and the Hokage medic team, they should be at the hospital."

"Right away." Both replied in unison and disappeared off in the direction of Konoha.

Once they were gone Hiruzen looked back down at Kushina and saw her eyes closing, he shook her gently as to not to wake the baby in her arms, "Kushina, I need you to stay awake until the medic team get here."

"I can't, I'm so tired," Kushina complained.

"I know it's hard, but you have to. How about you tell me what this little guy's name is?" He asked, trying to keep her brain working.

It seemed to work as Kushina looked down at Naruto and said, "Naruto. He's called Naruto, after the character from Jiraiya-sensei's novel."

"Erm, if I remember correctly that was the name of the main character of his first novel, correct?"

"Yeah, the only decent one he wrote," Kushina growled weakly.

"Now, now Kushina. My former student is a good writer." Hiruzen replied with a nervous chuckle.

"You pervert. If I wasn't exhausted, I'd hit you." Kushina growled.

"Don't be mean Kushina."

"I'm sorry." Kushina suddenly said, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Why's that, Kushina?"

"Lady Biwako… she didn't make it." Kushina said, crying.

Hiruzen was silent for a minute as the truth sunk in, "I see. Where?"

"The Barrier Cave, along with the midwife. We were attacked."

"Ok, I will get the cave investigated once we're back to the village." He said as a tear rolled down his cheek.

There was silence for a minute until, "Lord Sarutobi, where do we go from here?" Kushina asked, drying her tears.

"I don't know Kushina. I really don't know. With Minato gone, the village will need a leader." Hiruzen said, looking up at the stars.

"You need to take the hat back," Kushina stated bluntly, still looking down at Naruto.

"Kushina, I'm too old. That's the reason I gave the hat to Minato in the first place. I doubt I'm strong enough."

"Bullshit. Lord Sarutobi, you aren't called the God of Shinobi for no reason."

"I'm not a fan of that moniker. That title belongs to Hashirama-sensei, not me."

"But still, while no one won in my book. You brought Konoha a victory in the Third Great War and helped us rebuild after it. That's exactly what we need right now, the people trust you." Kushina explained, stroking Naruto's short blond locks, "I know I'd feel safer bring up Naruto while you are leading the village."

Hiruzen was silent as he stared at the stars. Even with all the destruction and pain that has gone on tonight the stars where just the same, little specks of lights in the night sky. He thought about what Kushina said for a couple of minutes before coming to a decision, "I think you're right Kushina. While the council must agree, I will put my two ryō in."

"Good," Kushina replied.

Hiruzen suddenly looked to the direction of Konoha, "The medic team are here."

At that very moment the two that had arrived with Hiruzen returned along with a group of four others each were wearing the standard medic of white overalls, a light blue long coat with a red cross on and the same coloured hat. Two of them were carrying a stretcher.

"Lord Third, we have brought the medic team." One of the men said.

"Good job, now I need you to return to the village. Go to ANBU HQ and tell them I need Boar and Eagle to go to the Barrier Cave and cordon it off until we can have it investigated." Hiruzen ordered. Both nodded and took off again back to Konoha.

The medic team rushed to Kushina's side and started to examine her. One of the female attendants went to pick up Naruto to examine him but Kushina instinctively pulled away.

"It's ok Kushina. They're here to help, they need to check Naruto over. They are the Hokage's medic team, they can be trusted." Hiruzen said, "They will keep him in your sight, ok?"

Kushina still seemed apprehensive but eventually nodded and handed Naruto off to the woman. The examination of Kushina and Naruto went on for a bit before they conferred with each other. Just before they did, the female attendant handed Naruto back to Kushina who immediately took him back.

Once they were done conferring they turned towards Hiruzen, Kushina and Naruto. One of the male attendants stepped forward and said, "From our examinations, Lady Kushina is suffering from extreme physical and chakra exhaustion. We need to get her to the hospital, so we can give her a chakra transfer to recover. There are also signs of an injury to her abdomen but has been healed and finally, there are no signs of the Four Symbols Seal on Lady Kushina."

The last two observations shocked Hiruzen and he looked to Kushina for answers but from the look of exhaustion on her face, he knew she wasn't going to answer. He was lucky she was awake for this long. Looking back to the medic team, he nodded, "Continue."

The male attendant stepped back and the female attendant, who examined Naruto, stepped forward, "Young Master Naruto seems to be healthy. His chakra network is fine and healthy, however, some of his chakra is being diverted to a seal that is located on his abdomen."

"It's an Eight Symbols Seal," Kushina whispered.

Hiruzen, again looked shocked, "Does that mean?"

"Yes, he is. Now can we please go back to the village, I can't stay awake anymore." And with that Kushina closed her eyes.

Hiruzen looked up at the medic team, "What has been said here is an S-ranked secret and can only be disclosed with my authority, understood?" All four nodded, "Now let's get Kushina and Young Naruto back to the village. Take Kushina on the stretcher, I'll take Naruto."

The four medics shifted into gear, once Hiruzen cradled Naruto in his arms, they placed Kushina on the stretcher. Once she was securely on and was lifted by the two male attendants they all took off towards the village.

 **o~0~o**

 **End of Chapter One**

 **o~0~o**

 **Author's Notes – Hey guys. I'm back and Happy New Year. The past year since I started this story has been extremely busy for me, to the point where writing wasn't an option but recently I have come back and read the chapter and found it extremely lacking so I rewrote it.**

 **I will be continuing this and The Monarchs, so look forward to new chapters in the near future.**

 **I hope you enjoyed and leave a review, so I know what you thought and I hope you guys have a good 2018 because I know I plan to.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Moving Forward

**Chapter 2 – Moving Forward**

 **o~0~o**

Kushina woke up a few hours later after having a restless sleep but with how late it was when she passed out from exhaustion, it was now morning. Looking down she realised she was in a hospital bed. In her arm was a small needle connected to an IV drip. Quickly looking around the room, she saw the things you'd come to expect a hospital room to have but none of that mattered to her as she found what she was looking for in the crib next to her bed.

Naruto was sleeping peacefully now that he was in a soft crib and there was so much commotion going on around him. Being as careful as she could Kushina picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

Her eyes stayed glued to him as a soft smile lit up her face. She didn't even notice Hiruzen walk in.

"I see you're awake, that's good." He said with a small cough to grab her attention.

Kushina's attention wasn't torn away from her sleeping child, she just couldn't look the man in the eyes, "Oh hey Lord Sarutobi. Yeah, still don't feel too good though."

"I would be more surprised if you were Kushina. You have been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours. The doctors did a chakra transfer with you but with your unique chakra and your ludicrously large chakra reserves they were only able to refill a fifth of them. They estimate you will be back to full health in the next few days, but they want to keep you here for further tests." Hiruzen explained.

Kushina nodded, she expected as much. The chakra reserves of the Uzumaki was borderline ridiculous as of now Kushina had more than double the amount chakra the man in front of her and on top of that her chakra was unique, even within the Uzumaki clan, so the Chakra Transfer Jutsu only helped so much for her.

"How are things going in the village?" Kushina asked, making sure not to look Hiruzen in the eyes.

"As well as can be in this situation. An emergency meeting of the Council and the Clan Heads was called not long after we returned to the village. I explained what I found last night and our talk. It was agreed that I become the Hokage again, at least until the dust settles."

"Told you, you could take the hat again."

Hiruzen let out a small chuckle, "Yes, I suppose you did." Quite quickly his expression turned sombre again, "Kushina there is another matter I need to discuss with you."

"I think I know what it's about."

"I'm sorry. I know it's so soon, but we need to discuss the funeral arrangements."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Kushina still hadn't looked at Hiruzen since he entered the room and he had noticed. It was kind of unsettling, he had known Kushina since she was 12 and chosen to be the second Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi after his teacher's wife, Mito Uzumaki. In all that time he had never seen Kushina this quiet and scared, she has always been loud, it was rather unsettling.

Hiruzen grabbed the chair stood next to the wall before picking it up with ease and moving it next to Kushina's bed. He sat down and leaned forward, "Kushina, what's wrong? You're being quiet, and you haven't looked at me once since I walked in. This isn't like you."

Kushina was silent for a minute, "It's all my fault."

"What is Kushina?"

"All this destruction and death. If I had just been stronger, then the Kyūbi would never have been extracted from me and used to attack the village and kill Minato." Kushina cried, not being able to hold the tears back anymore.

Hiruzen immediately stood and grabbed Kushina by the shoulders, "Kushina that isn't true. We took every precaution and your attacker still managed to get through the barriers. If they were strong enough to extract the Kyūbi they are possibly stronger than me. So, don't think like that. What happened last night was a horrible accident. Trust me, no one will blame you."

Kushina didn't reply and just looked down at Naruto.

"Just think Kushina. You are alive to take care of Naruto and trust me I know it hurts losing a loved one and the pain may never go away but you have to be strong for little Naruto here."

"So, you don't blame me for Lady Biwako's death?" Kushina finally asked.

"Never, the only one I blame is this attacker. Biwako and I have been Ninja for decades we put our lives on the line every day. We knew this would be a possibility one day and prepared for it, it hurts but as I said I have Asuma, Kita and the rest of the village to focus on now. That includes you and little Naruto."

Kushina smiled and wiped away her tears, "You're right, Lord Third."

"I usually am." He said with a smirk.

Kushina laughed at the sarcastic tone of the old man, "Now about the funeral arrangements."

Hiruzen sat back down and got serious again, "Yes, the funeral arrangements. Well, we are still cleaning up the rubble and searching for people. At the rate we are going we'll be finished in one week. Once all the people have been accounted for the funerals will start. With him being the Fourth Hokage, that means his funeral will be a public event."

"Of course."

"You and Naruto will be at the front of the audience. I will be proceeding over the event; the other Clan Heads and the Council will also be in attendance. If you wish to have anyone with you let me know."

Kushina nodded, "Thank you, Lord Third."

"Please Kushina, call me Hiruzen."

"Thank you… Hiruzen. I will."

"Now I need to ask Kushina. Can you tell me what happened last night?"

Kushina nodded, she went on to explain everything that happened last night. From her going into labour to the Shishin. She felt comfortable telling Hiruzen about what she discussed with the Shishin as Hiruzen already knew about them. Their summoning contract was technically under the banner of Uzumaki clan hiden.

While she was still a genin, Kushina had the chance to sign a summons contract from her teacher but she had to decline, the teacher reported that there was a new summons so Hiruzen asked Kushina about it. She made him promise not to reveal it to everyone and once he did she told him.

"… That's when I was reverse summoned back and signalled for you and, well, you know what happened after that." Kushina finished.

Hiruzen was quiet as he processed the information, "So you were attacked by an individual who has the skill to take out four ANBU guard without harm, then make it through a Detection Barrier. He seems to have some sort of teleportation jutsu and finally has the power to extract and seemingly control the Kyūbi."

"That sums them up."

"Also, you are not the Jinchūriki anymore but rather Minato sealed half of the beast into Naruto and took the other half with him into the Shinigami's stomach. Have I left anything out?" Hiruzen clarified.

"No that's everything," Kushina replied.

"Thank you Kushina. This has been very informative. We now have some information to go on, I will have to discuss this with the council."

"They can't know about Naruto!" She shouted.

"Kushina, calm down. The council knew about you, it'll be fine. Everything we have discussed is S-class information. So, if anyone talks then they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. So please don't worry Naruto will be safe, I will personally make sure of it. There are more things I want to discuss with you but those can wait until both you and Naruto are home. Now I must leave, I am helping out with the rubble clean-up also it seems little Naruto has finished his nap." Hiruzen said, standing from the chair.

Like magic, Naruto yawned before starting to cry with his arms stretched out.

"Wha- How did you know?" Kushina asked.

"I am a father, Kushina. I suggest feeding him. I shall let the midwife know as I leave." Hiruzen commented, stepping out of the door.

 **o~0~o**

It had been a couple of hours since Hiruzen had left and Kushina had given Naruto his first breastfeed. She was now eating the lunch the hospital provided if you could call it food.

"Ugh, this stuff is horrible. I need me some ramen." Kushina said, looking at her 'food'.

Naruto let out a cute laugh at hearing his mother's words, Kushina looked over and smiled at Naruto, "So you like ramen?" Naruto smiled and laughed again, "You may look like your father, but you sure got your good tastes from me." Kushina said, smiling.

She looked back to her food and was about to start eating again when a knock came at the door, "Come in!" She shouted.

The door opened and a teen with gravity-defying silver hair and only a quarter of his face on show with a mask covering the bottom half and headband over his left eye walked in the room. He was wearing a simple blue suit with a grey flak jacket, strapped up sandals and arm guards that went up to his elbows.

"Kakashi!" Kushina shouted with a smile, "Come over here."

Kakashi knew better than defy his former sensei's wife, he could still feel the bump from the only time he ever did. He walked over to her bedside and was pulled into a hug.

"I'm glad you're ok. If you were hurt, I wouldn't have forgiven myself." Kushina whispered, resting her head on the top of his.

"Thank you." Kakashi muffled, in a sombre tone. He pulled away and looked at Kushina, "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Kushina smiled, she was putting on a brave face of the last surviving member of Minato's genin squad.

"You're lying," Kakashi said, bluntly.

"Am not." Kushina huffed.

"Yes, you are."

Kushina looked at Kakashi's face and saw he wasn't having any of it, "Ok fine. I'm not ok but can you blame me I've lost my husband and I'm exhausted."

"It's ok."

"Enough of that, I already felt bad for myself earlier. Now come here Kakashi. There's someone I want you to meet." Kushina said, waving for him to come around the bed.

Kakashi nodded and walked around the bed. He walked up to the crib and peeked over. Inside he saw Naruto lying under his blanket. When the newborn noticed him he smiled and stretched his arms out to Kakashi.

"He likes you." Kushina smiled, "Kakashi, I'd like you to meet Naruto."

"This is Minato-sensei's son?" Kakashi asked, looking up at Kushina.

"Yep, he was born last night."

Kakashi reached a hand in and as soon as his hand got within range of Naruto's grabby little hands the little blond latched on to it with everything he's got. Kakashi couldn't help but smile however the only way you'd know is the way his eye is shaped.

Naruto kept moving it forwards and backwards, "Kushina there is something, I'd like to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I'd like to help you raise Naruto."

This shocked Kushina. Kakashi was like a son to her and she knew that he was always an aloof cool guy. But after his teammates, Obito and Rin were killed he got worse. Kushina hadn't seen him in a while, at least since she got pregnant, and only got updates from Minato, well the ones he was allowed to disclose, with Kakashi being an ANBU. She never expected this.

"Are you sure Kakashi? An ANBU agent has a lot of responsibilities and helping to raise a child is a big responsibility." Kushina asked.

"I've already talked to Lord Third. He told me that he would be assigning guards of the Uzumaki estate for yours and Naruto's protection with you being the widow and child of a Hokage, he wants to make sure you are well protected. I volunteered so I will be getting paid to guard the estate on my shifts so it's all good. If you'll have me that is." Kakashi explained, looking down at Naruto every few seconds.

Kushina smiled at Kakashi, "I'd love to. Come here." She said, opening her arms.

Kakashi, not wanting to ruin Naruto's fun, leaned into Kushina while keeping his hand where it was. Kushina got him in another hug and didn't let go for a good while.

"Do you still have a key to the house?" Kakashi nodded, "Good, I'm going to be here for at least the next few days so feel free to move your stuff in. Your room is still the same."

"Thank you. I will, Lord Third has given me time off to do just that." Kakashi replied.

"Damn he really deserves the title of The Professor. That man seems to think of everything."

"Ok, I'll go and make a start," Kakashi said, about to walk away but stopped when he realised that his hand was still held by Naruto.

He looked over the crib and Naruto just smiled up at him and laughed causing him to wave Kakashi's hand more.

Kushina giggled, "Looks like you'll have to stay a bit longer. Naruto says so."

Kakashi sighed, "I suppose so. Kushina, am I able to pick him up?"

Kushina smiled, "Of course. Just be careful and make sure to support his head."

Kakashi nodded, he scooped Naruto up. Making sure to do follow Kushina's advise and was extremely gentle while supporting the little blond's head. All the time Naruto laughed.

"He really has taken a shine to you Kakashi," Kushina commented, reaching over to get a glass of water.

While she was looking away, Naruto's head reached up and grabbed Kakashi's mask because he didn't have a lot of strength in his arms he immediately pulled it down.

"Ah." Naruto cooed.

Kushina turned back to see Kakashi adjusting his mask while Naruto was smiling and clapping, "What happened?"

"Naruto pulled my mask down," Kakashi replied.

Kushina's jaw went limp, "What!? For as long as I've known you, you've never taken that thing down. I've been trying like hell to see what's behind that mask and my newborn son does it on his first day of being alive."

Kushina continued to ramble to herself that she was beaten by her own son. Kakashi just laughed before going back to playing with Naruto.

 **o~0~o**

It turns out Naruto didn't just get his good tastes from Kushina but also got her endless reserves of energy as Kakashi didn't leave until late afternoon. The midwife told Kushina that there was another visitor but Kushina was too exhausted and asked if they could come back today.

So now here she was waiting for them the next day, she had recovered enough to walk around now. She was now looking out of her window at the village. Her mind was racing trying to go over the events of the night that caused her to be here for anything that could help. She had a couple of things but nothing concrete.

"It's only been a day but a lot of work has gone into rebuilding the village has already been done," Kushina said to herself.

"The village has seen better days." A voice said from behind her.

Kushina smiled and turned around. Stood in the room was a fair-skinned woman with long, straight black hair with bangs hanging on either side of her face too roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes, the same age as the redhead. She was wearing a simple dark purple blouse with a red-plum skirt.

"Mikoto!" Kushina greeted, walking up to Mikoto and hugging her.

Mikoto returned the hug, "I'm so glad to see you're ok." The two parted and looked down. "Kushina, you gave birth!"

Kushina smiled and placed her hands on her stomach, "Yeah." She moved over to Naruto's crib and showed off her son.

"Oh, he's adorable," Mikoto said, stoking Naruto's cheek. "His name is Naruto, right?"

"Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Kushina replied.

"Oh, he's taking both yours and Minato's names?"

"Yeah. Minato may not have been part of a clan, but he was a Hokage and I want Naruto to have something of his father."

"That's nice, Kushina. Also, I'm very sorry, I heard about Minato."

"It's ok, thank you. Actually, that reminds me, his funeral is next week. I was wondering if you could be with me."

Mikoto looked Kushina in the eyes and saw the look of need her best friend had, "Of course, but with Fugaku being a clan head Itachi and Sasuke will need to come so are they ok they sit with us as well?"

"Yes, of course. How is your family anyway? No-one was hurt right?" Kushina asked with concern.

"No thankfully," Mikoto replied.

Kushina was antsy for a while after that and Mikoto picked up on it, "Kushina, what's wrong?"

"Erm, Mikoto before you got here I was thinking about the night the Kyūbi was extracted from me," Kushina said, while her status of being a Jinchūriki was kept a secret, she shared it with Mikoto as the two had been best friends since the academy and she knew she could trust her.

"Oh ok," Mikoto replied.

"The guy who did it was able to control the Kyūbi," Kushina stated.

"What are you getting at Kushina?" Mikoto asked, sounding defensive.

"Nothing, I just wondering. The only things known to control a Tailed Beast is Wood Release and the Sharingan. I know for sure that the guy didn't use Wood Release, so I can only think that this guy had the Sharingan." Kushina explained.

"So, you're saying that it was an Uchiha that attacked you!?" She shouted.

"Please don't shout. I don't want Naruto to wake up." Kushina said, trying to calm her friend down.

"What do you expect!? You are accusing one of my clan members of attacking you, and setting the Kyūbi on the village!"

"That's not what I mean. I need your help!" Kushina shouted.

"Why would I help!?"

"Because I want to know who killed my husband and if they have stolen a Sharingan or an exiled member you are best to help me as you know all its abilities and I would've thought that you would want to punish someone who wants to put your clan in a bad light. But if you don't care then I don't need you." Kushina explained.

Mikoto was quiet for a second, after hearing her friend's explanation she felt bad. Her friend just wanted answers and the help of her friend to get them. And what did she do, yell at her. "I'm sorry Kushina. I'm a bit on edge, people are questioning the clan. For some reason, Fugaku pulled everyone back to the estate when the Kyūbi attacked. So, we are getting hounded why we didn't help."

"That doesn't seem like Fugaku. Yes, he was a bit of the stick in the mud but he's also a bit of a show-off, so I don't know why he wouldn't want to fight." Kushina replied.

"He's been acting weird lately. I can't put my finger on it, but something just seems off." Mikoto said.

"Sounds like he has a secret." Kushina answered, "It's like when Minato was planning to propose to me and he got super secretive and jumpy whenever I was around."

"Maybe but anyway, yes I will help in any way possible. Minato was a good friend and I want to clear my clan's name."

"Thanks, Mikoto. We'll start when I get outta here." Kushina said.

"Agreed. Now before I forget, I brought you something." Mikoto said, reaching into her pocket.

Out came a small scroll. She placed it on the side table before unrolling it, written on them were several seals. Kushina, being a Fūinjutsu expert, recognised them immediately as storage seals with a time suspension seal laid over. Mikoto placed a small amount of chakra into one of them and in a poof of smoke, there was a steaming bowl of Salt Ramen.

It was love at first sight for Kushina and she immediately beelined it for the bowl. From her grabbing the bowl and the bowl being empty was a total of ten seconds. Mikoto would have been shocked by this but knowing Kushina for as long as she has, ten seconds was just above average for her best friend.

"Mikoto, you are the best." Kushina cried, hugging her best friend's midsection.

"I just had a hunch that you were in need of your intake of ramen. It was from that place you love. Ichiraku Ramen I think it's was called." Mikoto replied, slyly she knew perfectly well what restaurant it was. While she had never been personally before today, Kushina would always talk about it.

"Thank you. Thank you." Kushina repeated.

"The scroll has enough to last you the few days you are here but with how much you eat, that's about seventy bowls. You owe me Kushina."

"You're a saint, Mikoto. I'll never be able to do enough to repay you for this."

"Kushina can you get up."

Like a light switch, Kushina's personality changed back to the normal Kushina as she stood up. She brushed her hospital gown before going back to the crib to check on Naruto.

"I really hope Sasuke and little Naruto here grow up to be good friends," Mikoto commented, moving around to the other side of the crib.

"Yeah me too. It going to be a long road for this little guy." Kushina said, thinking back to the words the Shishin but also on what Kakashi said yesterday.

Naruto is the son of a Hokage and last known male Uzumaki, that makes him a very sort after person. If that wasn't bad enough Minato was also seen in a very negative light by Iwagakure as during the Third Great War, he killed one thousand Iwa Nin single handily thanks to his mastery of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. Because of that Iwagakure had tried on multiple occasions to attack Minato before he became the Hokage. She was even attacked a few times as Minato's wife, so Naruto will surely be targeted.

Luckily Kushina didn't think to factor in Naruto's status as the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki because of Hiruzen's claim that it is S-Class information.

Kushina leaned in and kissed Naruto on the forehead, "No matter what I will protect you Naruto. You will grow up to be a great man with a lot of friends and a loving family." She smiled, drawing back from her baby.

Mikoto didn't say anything to interrupt the loving moment between a mother and her child. She just smiled and remembered all the moments, like the one in front of her, she shared with her two sons. She loved them so much and tries to show them that as much as she can.

"Kushina, I need to go but I'll come by tomorrow as well. Sound good?" Mikoto said.

Kushina looked up, "Yeah, I'd like that. Tell Fugaku I said hi."

"I will." Mikoto replied, moving towards the door before she stopped and turned, "Also Kushina don't eat all that ramen in one day. I know how you can get, I won't be buying more."

Kushina chuckled, "I won't. Genin's Honour." Kushina said, putting three fingers up.

Mikoto just laughed as she picked up her bag and left.

Once she was gone, Kushina sat down on her bed and sighed, "Well that went better than expected. I really thought Mikoto was going to really flip at one point but I'm glad we are going to try and figure this out." She stood from her bed and went to the window. She looked out to the horizon, past all the building and destruction, "Whoever you are. Whatever you are planning. I will make sure that you don't succeed, even if it's not me I will make sure someone else finishes you off."

 **o~0~o**

The next few days in the hospital went exactly how Kushina expected, it was boring. She did have her moments of being busy and enjoyed it when either Naruto was awake and being good and when Mikoto made her daily visits. It was nice as while both were pregnant, Mikoto raising Sasuke and Kushina's around the clock care the two had very little time to catch up.

She was discharged from the hospital yesterday and now is sat in the front row at her husband's funeral. She was dressed all in black with her hair tied in a ponytail with little Naruto in a black blanket in her arms.

She was sat with Kakashi, who was in a black suit, on her right and Mikoto, who was in a similar attire to Kushina on her left. Mikoto's family was also in attendance with her. If Kushina looked around she could see the who's who of Shinobi and Kunoichi of Konoha.

There was Tsume Inuzuka, Inochi and Noriko Yamanaka, Shukaku and Yoshino Nara, Chōza and Chiharu Akimichi, Hiashi and Hitomi Hyūga, Murakumo and Uroko Kurama and even the three council members were here; Danzō Shimura, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. The ones that had children also brought them just as Kushina and Mikoto did.

There were also members of influential civilian families here as well along with normal civilians. A lot were here to pay their respects the man who saved them and to man who led their village.

"Minato really touched a lot of people." Kushina smiled.

Once everyone was seated Hiruzen got up, wearing the Hokage robes, and began, "Thank you all for coming today. We are here to celebrate to the life of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who tragically lost his life in service to the village he loved as he defeated the Kyūbi that terrorized us just a few short days ago."

Hiruzen went on but Kushina didn't really listen, her mind was just occupied with the memories she and Minato shared together. The most prominent ones being how they fell in love, both becoming shinobi, buying their house, their first date and when she told him she was pregnant. Of course, there were many, many more but she was pulled out of her musings by Mikoto nudging her side.

"Kushina, you have been out of it for the last ten minutes," Mikoto said.

Kushina wiped a tear away from her eye and smiled, "Sorry I was just having a trip down memory lane."

"That's to be expected but come on it's time for silent respect," Mikoto said, pulling Kushina up with her.

Everyone else did as well and they all just stood there with their eyes closed as they all paid their respects and the ones that were particularly close to Minato reminisced on some of the memories they shared with him. While Kushina had been doing that for the last ten minutes, she still had days' worth of memories about her husband that she could reminisce on but instead, she chose to make a promise,

"Minato, I promise from the bottom of my heart that I will raise Naruto the way he should be. I'll make sure he isn't picky and eats lots to grow strong, he will bathe every day and stay warm, he will get lots of sleep. He will make friends that he can trust. While I wasn't good at studying, I'll make sure Naruto does his homework and practices his Jutsus hard but if he doesn't get something I will be there to make sure he doesn't give up and soldiers on as to not lose conviction. He will respect people and his senseis, no matter who they are. I will make sure he knows the Three Prohibitions of the Ninja, he will save his money for when he needs it and not waste it on things or people who aren't important, he won't have alcohol until he is old enough and I'll make sure he finds a good woman and not be swayed by the women who would do him harm, I will make sure he finds someone he loves just as much as I love you. I will make sure he achieves whatever dream he desires, even if it isn't to be a Shinobi. I know there will be hardship along the road without you at my side to help but I want you to know that I'm not alone, I have Kakashi to help me and Mikoto. I do and will always miss you and no-one will ever fill the hole you left in my heart. Rest well my love and know that Naruto and I will be fine." Kushina whispered, openly crying as she went.

Mikoto placed her hand on her friend's back for support, she heard snippets of what Kushina was whispering and couldn't imagine what her friend was going through.

Kushina wiped away the tears and looked down at Naruto, "Now our journey begins little one."

 **o~0~o**

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **o~0~o**

 **Author's Notes – Hey guys, back again with the second chapter. I hope you enjoyed. I know not a lot happened and it was like an expo dump, but I thought it was necessary to have a chapter dedicated to how Kushina dealt with the situation and how she will move forward, hence the name of the chapter. A lot of stories I've read where Kushina survives the jump straight to academy aged Naruto and skip out on Kushina, well I thought it was important to show it.**

 **That being said, this is the last chapter with Kushina as the central character, it will be going to Naruto after this. The next chapter will be a young Naruto, before the academy. I want to set a couple more things up before the main story starts.**

 **Now don't forget to Favourite and Follow if you haven't and leave a Review to tell me how I'm doing. And finally, if you like Highschool DxD and haven't already, go and read my other story; The Monarch.**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Fateful Night

**Chapter 3 – A Fateful Night**

 **o~0~o**

It's been seven years since the funeral, seven years since the Kyūbi attacked. The village has recovered over the years, the destruction was quickly amended which isn't surprising when the village is equipped with a damage control team that deals with people able to breathe fire summon violent winds and waterfalls at a moment's notice so they have to be quick to deal with things.

It was the emotional scars that haven't fully healed yet. Everyone was affected by the attack in one way or another and not just any one single person, whole clans were affected. All taking different amounts of time to heal, if ever.

The village now looked like it once did, however taking a closer look there was something odd was happening. Jumping between the rooftops of the main street was a young seven-year-old boy with sun-kissed blond hair, crystal blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a red and black swirl in the centre of the chest, blue knee-length shorts and sandals.

He was laughing out loud with the biggest, smuggest grin imaginable signalling he was up to mischief. Of course, the splatters of pink paint covering him from head to toe and the paint can in his hand were also big and obvious indicators.

He was running at an incredible speed for a seven-year-old and avoiding all the obstacles in his way with the precision of a professional athlete. However, he didn't seem to be running from anyone but the way he kept looking back and speeding up when he did seem to make out that he was.

He continued the leaping and running not noticing Kushina, who didn't look a day older than she did at the funeral if anything she looked better and now wearing the Konoha Nin uniform, land on the rooftop he was about to run across. The look on her face could possibly even scare the Shinigami itself as her hair seemed to have a mind of its own, spreading out into nine tendrils, resembling the very thing she had sealed inside her up until seven years ago.

She stood with her arms crossed and didn't move an inch when the blond seven-year-old crashed into her whereas he bounced off her, crashing on his butt. The shock caused him to drop his paint can, splattering paint all over the roof.

"Hey! What's the big… deal?" He shouted until he saw who he had run into and his voice died down to a whimper, "Erm, hey Mom. What are you doing here?"

"Well, Naruto." She growled, "I got home from my mission early, so I could make it home for my son's birthday. I was just giving my report to Lord Third when an ANBU agent burst in covered in pink paint to say that my son had paint-bombed the ANBU HQ." Kushina said, before feigning heartbreak, "I, of course, said that my little boy would never do such a thing and to prove it I would capture the culprit. But now I catch up to them and see with my own two eyes that it's my son. How did it come to this?"

Naruto just looked at his Mom, she was always like this. To say Kushina Uzumaki was eccentric was an understatement, but she was his Mom.

Just then another two ANBU agents appeared on the rooftop, both sporting the pink paint look to them.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are to come to the Hokage office immediately." The one with a wolf mask said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Lady Kushina, your son has to come with us, he must answer for this prank." The other with a lizard mask said.

"Oh, I know. I will make sure he gets there you two can go and change." Kushina replied.

The two ANBU looked at each other before looking back at Kushina and nodding. In less than a second, they were both gone.

"It's crazy, they can do that, but they couldn't catch me." Naruto said before smiling, "I'm must be awesome."

"Naruto, get down to the street," Kushina said, pointing down to the busy street.

"But Mom…"

"No buts Naruto. Now." Kushina repeated in a sterner voice.

Naruto knew when his Mom had won so he just hung his head before jumping off the roof and scaled down the building by landing and jumping on various things on the wall before landing cleanly on the ground.

Standing up, he looked around and saw his Mom was already on the ground. He was about to say something but Kushina grabbed him by his ear and pulled him down the street, "Ow! Ow! Mom! You don't need to, ow, pull my ear." Naruto pleaded.

"You didn't need to paint-bomb the ANBU HQ, but you did," Kushina replied, looking back and sighing. She let go of his ear and just walked with Naruto following, "Naruto, I know doing a prank like that can help your stealth and infiltration training, but you can't pull pranks like that. And know I haven't been around as much as you or I have wanted during the last two years since I went back on to the active roster, but you are the heir to Uzumaki and the son of the Fourth Hokage you need to act like it and not prank." Kushina explained, "Or at least not get caught." She finished in a whisper that Naruto couldn't hear.

Kushina didn't see it but Naruto gritted his teeth as Kushina spoke.

"Where is Kakashi? He was supposed to be looking after and training you while I was gone." Kushina asked, confused.

Naruto quickly regained his smile as Kushina looked at him, "I, um, sort of, hid that weird orange book he always reads and, sort of, left him a load of clues that send him all over the village." He said, looking down.

Kushina couldn't help but smile. She knew exactly what those books were as they were written by the self-entitled Super Perv, Jiraiya and tried to get Kakashi to not read them, but he always seemed to have an extra one with him. She was also smiling as the prank was good and if it ended how she thought then it would be all the more better.

"And where is the book?" Kushina asked.

"In the ramen cupboard at home." Naruto laughed.

Kushina couldn't help but laugh along with him, it ended exactly how she thought.

"You know Kakashi is going to be mad when he finds out it was you," Kushina said.

"Oh, he won't." Naruto replied with a huge grin, "The way I wrote the clues I made it sound like they were written by the bushy brow guy in the green jumpsuit that's always challenging Big Bro to those weird contests."

"That's smart Naruto. I'll let you off this once." Kushina replied.

The two continued with just idle chatter as they made their way to the tower at the heart of the village. They mainly talked about what Naruto had been up to while Kushina had been on her mission, which she revealed to be an exploration mission to the Land of Mountains, but she couldn't say anything more.

They eventually arrived at the door to the Hokage's office, with a swift knock on the door they went in. The ANBU agent that informed Kushina of what Naruto had done was still here and Naruto swore that they were glaring at him through the sparrow shaped mask.

"Ah, that didn't take long Kushina." An older looking Hiruzen said from behind his desk.

His hair had lost all colour and was completely grey and more wrinkles had appeared on his face. Kushina continuously said to him that is was because of his job and she knew that because before he died, Minato was starting to get a couple of grey hairs and he was only in his mid-twenties.

"Yeah, well I know my son and how he thinks. He was heading to Ichiraku's." Kushina replied.

"Was not!" Naruto shouted, crossing his arms and pouted.

"Was too," Kushina replied.

"Was not"

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was too, end of discussion," Kushina said, ending the small argument with it ending with the two ending up face to face with each other.

Naruto just huffed and turned around, "Was not." He whispered, making sure he had the last word.

Hiruzen chuckled at the two, they were so alike to each other that it's practically impossible for the two not to clash with each other. That being said, Hiruzen knew that Kushina would do anything for her son.

"Now, for the reason, you are here Naruto. I'll give you one chance to admit what you did." Hiruzen said, adding a little bit of his Hokage tone for authority.

Naruto opened one eye to the Hokage and the two had a staring match with each other. Naruto, being the rebellious person, he was, tried to match the old man in intimidation but being a seven-year-old boy kinda takes away from a person's intimidation factor. However, instead of backing down and spilling everything, Naruto closed his eyes and huffed.

Kushina growled and brought her fist down the top of Naruto's head, "Ow!" He shouted.

"Well stop trying to be a tough guy and tell Lord Third the truth!" Kushina shouted.

"No!"

"Do it!"

"Fine." Naruto said, finally giving in to his Mom raised his fist again, "I snuck onto the roof of the building while the guards were changing shifts. Before the replacements were able to take their positions, I was able to sneak into one of the vents. I crawled through the ducts of the building until I got to the locker room. I made sure there was no-one in the room before slipping in. I then planted paint bombs in all the lockers so when they were opened they would explode. Then I got back into the vents and waited. That's when a huge group of them came in and opened their lockers. Oh, wow it was so funny." Naruto said with a laugh before continuing, "It was going really well until they heard me laughing so I had to quickly get out the vents and run. That's when Mom caught me and now we're here."

Hiruzen had been listening intently to Naruto recount his exploits, "Um uh, so you snuck in through the vents?"

"Yeah."

Hiruzen then turned to the sparrow, "Sparrow, I'd like you to inform Commander Kōzō that he is to report to me immediately. If a seven-year-old boy can infiltrate our ANBU defences then I'd like to review the security of the building."

Sparrow bowed and disappeared in a wisp of dust.

Hiruzen turned back to the mother-son duo, "Now Naruto I would usually punish someone who infiltrated the ANBU HQ, it would be grounds to be sent to Hōzuki Castle." He said, stroking his goatee.

Naruto's face turned ghost white at hearing Hōzuki Castle, even a seven-year-old had heard of the placed nicknamed the Blood Prison. It was where the worst of the worst from all over the Elemental Nations were sent until their village requested their return or to live out the rest of their days.

Kushina, however, had a smirk on her face, seeing the look on her son's face and she knew that Hiruzen was just bluffing, he saw Naruto as a part of his own family and wouldn't send him there. Now she loved her son and would never wish in a million years that Naruto set even a single foot in Hōzuki Castle but this a much-needed reality check for her son that some of his actions have consequences.

While she loved pranks and did a few in her time, but infiltrating ANBU HQ is a serious offence and something she would never think to do because she knew the ramifications. The villages that have a vendetta against Konoha may have spies watching buildings like ANBU HQ and if they saw Naruto breaking in that easily then they could do the same thing and she had warned her son multiple times that certain places were off limits, including ANBU HQ.

"But, I'll let you off this once Naruto as you exposed a glaring floor in the ANBU's security. However, I don't want to hear that you did anything like this again, if the people saw that the son of the Fourth Hokage was pulling such pranks they may see you a nuisance. While some of them have been amusing this one crossed the line." Hiruzen said.

Naruto growled at the mention of being his father's son again.

"That's what I was telling you on the way here, Naruto." Kushina said, stepping away from him to turn around to face him, "The Uzumaki clan is only you and I, now but we have a rich heritage to live up to."

"That's correct, we have your family's crest on all Konoha Nin uniform to honour the relationship the village shared with them," Hiruzen added.

"And as an heir to that, you need to make sure you act accordingly." Kushina continued.

That was the last straw, "I don't care!" Naruto shouted at the two, "I don't care I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage or the heir to the Uzumaki clan! I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, I am my own person and I'll pull the pranks I want!"

Without saying another word Naruto ran out of the open window and jumped away from the tower. Kushina and Hiruzen were left speechless, Naruto had never shouted like that before.

"I never knew," Kushina whispered eventually.

"We pushed him too far," Hiruzen added.

"Yeah, I know," Kushina said, about to go after her son but was stopped.

"Leave him Kushina." Hiruzen said, moving his arm back, "The last thing he wants right now is to see you or me. He needs time to cool off."

Kushina sighed, "Fine."

The two were quiet for a second before Hiruzen talked, "I will go to him later and camp out for the night."

"Ok, just make sure to have him back in the morning. I want him to have a great birthday." Kushina replied, walking to the door.

"Of course. I also have a present for him. I shall see you then."

"Yeah, see you then," Kushina said without turning around and just waved as she left the room.

Once she was gone Hiruzen walked to the open window Naruto had jumped out of, he was nowhere in sight now but Hiruzen's crystal ball will make short work of finding him later, "Naruto." He said, scanning the village.

 **o~0~o**

Naruto hadn't gone too far from the Hokage Tower and landed near the Academy. He swung on the swing in the Academy courtyard for a while. When he was upset he liked to come here and just think.

"It's always 'Son of the Fourth Hokage' this and 'heir of the Uzumaki clan' that." Naruto huffed, "Even the villagers are the same, they either shower me with praise for just being Dad's son or they treat me like glass. I'm sick of it."

He stood up with determination all over his face, "I'll show them. My name is Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki and I will never give up until people respect me for being me!" He shouted with his arms in the air.

After making his declaration he heard multiple people laughing. He looked around but there wasn't anyone around, so he listened. He noticed that the laughing was coming from the other side of the outer wall of the courtyard.

Curious, Naruto walked up to the wall and leapt to the top. He finally saw who was laughing as he looked down. There were three boys who were a year or two older than him surrounding a girl who was the same age as Naruto.

She was crouched in the fetal position and Naruto could hear she was crying but could only see her short midnight blue coloured hair.

He crouched on the wall for a bit to get a grasp on the situation.

"Show us your Byakugan! If not, don't show your face around here again!" One of them said, who seemed to be the leader.

"Your eyes are really creepy." Another commented.

"I bet you're actually a monster, right?" The final one mocked.

"You Byakugan Monster." The leader said again.

Now the girl was really crying, and Naruto had had enough, "Hey!" He shouted, "Get away from her!"

The boys looked up and the leader said, "Huh, who do you think you are, kid? Now leave if you know what's good for you."

Naruto just laughed as he jumped down from the wall and landed cleanly.

"Boss, that's Naruto. He's the son of Lord Fourth." One of the cronies whispered.

"We should go." The other said.

The leader just laughed, "There's nothing I hate more than people like you and that Monster. Thinking you own everything you see just because you're part of some big shot clan." He growled.

"Less talking," Naruto said, cracking his knuckles.

"Get him!" The leader shouted.

The two cronies looked nervously at each other before running at Naruto. They both went to punch the blond but Naruto is being trained to be Shinobi by his Mom and Kakashi who are a high ranking Jōnin and ANBU agent respectively, so he quickly saw where they were going to swing their fists and was easily able to dodge out of the way.

While they lost their balance when he did, they recovered quickly and tried again. So, Naruto decided to let out his frustration he had with his Mom and the Hokage. He grabbed the arm of the first kid before planting his fist directly in his gut causing him to hunch over on the floor.

He then swept the legs out from under the other one and straddled him to start punching. He was so focused on punching the kid that he didn't see the leader's leg until it was too late, and it connected with his face and he fell back on the floor.

The leader then began to stamp on Naruto, "How do you like that, you snobby rich kid! That'll teach you to mess around with other people's business!" The leader shouted with every stamp.

"I'm not a snobby rich kid!" Naruto shouted, bringing his foot up and kicking the leader in the crotch.

The kid quickly fell the ground crying as Naruto got up and wiped away the trickle of blood coming from his nostril. Looking at the three, he knew they had had enough, he grabbed the hair of the leader, so he was looking at Naruto, "Now leave. If you ever bother this girl or me again, I'll make sure you regret it." Naruto said.

The leader whimpered, "Ok."

Naruto threw him to the ground and the leader quickly got up. He grabbed his friends and they ran away. Once they were gone, Naruto turned to the girl and walked up to her.

"Hey, are you ok?" Naruto asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

She recoiled from the touch and whimpered, "I'm, I'm s-sorry." She stuttered, not looking up.

"Hey, it's ok." Naruto said nervously, crouching down to be the same level as her, "I'm Naruto, what's your name?"

The girl slowly looked up, still clearly scared and saw Naruto. She looked shocked as she sported a small blush, "Are-are you one of the bu-bullies?" She asked.

"No of course not." Naruto said, "I sent them packing, they won't be bothering you again." He finished with a smile and he flexed what little bicep he had.

The girl laughed softly at what Naruto was doing and it was the first time Naruto could see her eyes. They had large and featureless white irises that had a light shade of lavender with no sign of any pupils.

"Wow your eyes are cool," Naruto said, moving his head to get try and get a better view of her eyes.

The girl was shocked and backed away from Naruto's gaze, "No, no they aren't. My eyes are ugly, everyone says so."

"Then they are lying." Naruto stated bluntly, "Now what's your name? I'm Naruto." He asked extending his arm with the widest smile he had.

The girl was hesitant at first but slowly took his hand and shook it, "My name is Hinata, Hinata Hyūga."

"Nice to meet you Hinata." Naruto smiled before adopting a thinking expression, "Hyūga, Hyūga. Where have I heard that name?" Naruto asked himself, until it hit him, "Wait you're from the clan with the Byak, Byakutan. No. Byakuman. No."

"The Byakugan," Hinata answered with a small laugh.

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, that's it. The Byakugan. Is it true you can see all around yourself?" Naruto asked, enthusiastically.

Hinata nodded, "Yes, I can."

"Wow, that's sooooo cool. I wish my clan had something cool like that. All we have is these chains we can make out of our chakra, but I might not even be able to unlock it." Naruto grumbled.

"Chakra chains are cool," Hinata commented in a meek voice.

"Yeah I suppose but I might not be able to use them."

"I'm sure you will."

"Thanks, you wanna hang out?"

Hinata was about to answer but was interrupted, "Lady Hinata." A male voice called out.

The two seven-year-olds looked to see a man coming up to them and from his eyes, he was another Hyūga. Once he was upon them he said, "You know you can't just wander the village on your own. I must accompany you or your father will get mad."

Hinata's head dropped, "I'm sorry causing you an inconvenience, Kō."

"You mustn't apologize Lady Hinata. It's not right for a member of the main branch to apologize to a member of the side branch." Kō replied with a sigh.

"Sounds weird to me," Naruto commented, in confusion.

Kō had been so focused on Hinata, he didn't even notice Naruto until now. His eye went wide as he bowed, "Oh hello Lord Naruto. What are you doing here?"

"Just talking to Hinata," Naruto replied.

"Well thank you for keeping Lady Hinata company but we must be going." Kō said, standing straight and grabbing a hold of Hinata, "Come along Lady Hinata."

Hinata didn't have time to answer as Kō pulled her up and away but looked back as Naruto shouted.

"Hinata, you should come by my house tomorrow. It's my birthday, it'll be fun!" He yelled at her.

"Ok." She said in the loudest voice she could without shouting.

It wasn't long before Kō and Hinata were out of sight and Naruto stood up. He put his arms behind his head and kick aimlessly at the grass as he walked off into the woods, "Now what to do?" He asked himself.

 **o~0~o**

After a few hours, Naruto had made his way to a lake and decided to do a little fishing. He didn't feel like going home as he was still angry with his mom. He remembered what Kakashi had taught him about surviving in the wilderness when they went camping, to build a fire.

He took the few fish he had caught and impaled them on sticks that he stuck in the ground around the fire. While he was waiting for them to cook he watched the Sunset over the mountains on the horizon and the sky fill with stars.

The smell of freshly cooked fish filled his nostrils causing his mouth to drool, "Time to eat." He said, grabbing one of the impaled fish by the stick.

He was just about to a bite when "Smells good." Hiruzen said over his shoulder, scaring the ever-loving daylights out of the young boy.

"Damn it, Old Man. What's the big idea!?" Naruto shouted, glaring at the Hokage.

"Nothing's the idea Naruto. I was just having a nice stroll in the woods on a peaceful night when I saw the fire and investigated. It was just a coincidence that it was yours." Hiruzen explained.

Naruto wasn't believing a word of it, "You used that weird crystal ball thingy that you use on the Hot Springs to find me, didn't you?" Naruto said, stone-faced.

"I-I don't k-know what you're talking about Na-Naruto. I don't spy on the Hot Springs."

"Yeah ok but you didn't deny using it to find me."

Hiruzen chuckled, "You have me there. May I?" He asked, pointing to one of the other fish.

"I guess so." Naruto said, indifferently, "But I'm still mad at you and Mom." Naruto quickly huffed.

The old man chuckled again, "I don't expect you to forgive me that quickly." He said, picking up the closest fish the same way Naruto did and took a bite, "Not bad Naruto."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the praise and took a bite of his own.

The two sat in silence while they ate their fish. They were just watching the stars in the sky and even lucky enough to see a couple of shooting stars.

"The stars a beautiful tonight. I really don't take enough time to just admire the world as I used to." Hiruzen said, "Just looking at them reminds me that this world is so boundless and everything outside that is even greater. But Naruto, do you know what is even greater than the boundlessness of this world?"

"No, what is it?" Naruto asked, intrigued.

"Human potential. The potential we all have inside us can make humans go and do amazing things. My sensei, for example, he fought each of the Tailed Beasts and captured them. It was something no-one was ever even thought possible to do but he shattered that ceiling. He also was one of the two men that started Konohagakure which led to the other villages forming." Hiruzen reminisced.

"Why are you telling me about Lord First, Old Man?" Naruto asked, losing interest.

"Because, like him, I see so much potential in you Naruto," Hiruzen said.

"Let me guess, because I'm Dad's son and an Uzumaki." Naruto groaned.

Hiruzen sighed, "Yes Naruto, those things will help you but I'm talking about you, Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki. I can see in you a man who will grow up to be an important and powerful person made solely on their own merit. And I know you're Mother sees the exact same thing I do. You are all she has now Naruto and she will do anything to protect you, so she will make sure you grow up strong. Do you understand?"

Naruto felt a bit bad now. He should never have shouted at his mom and Hiruzen, "Yeah, I understand, Old Man. Sorry, I'll go and apologize to her." He said going to stand up.

"Wait Naruto." Hiruzen said, grabbing the top of the seven-year-old, "You're Mother needs her rest. The mission she just got back from was a tough one. Lets camp out here tonight and you can apologize to her in the morning. I'll tell you some stories of my missions when I was younger, how does that sound?"

Naruto nodded, excitedly. He always loved hearing the stories Hiruzen told, they were always so exciting and fun, "Yeah, sounds fun."

So, Naruto sat back down, and the night went on with Hiruzen regaling Naruto with stories from his youth and Naruto listening intently until he finally fell asleep.

 **o~0~o**

The next morning Naruto and Hiruzen walked into the Uzumaki house and found a sight they weren't expecting. Kushina was sat on one of the couches in the living room but she wasn't alone. She was comforting a sobbing Mikoto Uchiha.

The redhead finally noticed the two and quickly said, "Naruto, go to your room. I need to talk to Lord Third."

"But mom I want to say…" Naruto started.

"Naruto, please. Just do what I said. I know you are sorry and I'm sorry as well, but this is important. So please go to your room and I'll come up as soon as I can." Kushina said, close to tears.

Not wanting to hurt his mom, Naruto quickly nodded and ran upstairs.

Kushina listened for the sound of Naruto's bedroom door closing before looking at Hiruzen, "What the hell happened last night? And don't lie to me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about Kushina?" Hiruzen said, honestly.

"Bullshit! The Uchiha clan is massacred except for Mikoto and her youngest son and you're telling me you, the Hokage, know nothing about it!" Kushina shouted.

"What!?" Was all Hiruzen could ask.

"It, It was Itachi." Mikoto cried between sobs.

 **o~0~o**

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **o~0~o**

 **Author's Notes – Hey guys, back again with the third chapter. I hope you enjoyed.**

 **So, the first chapter with Naruto as the lead is over. He's met Hinata and to two became friends. And the Uchiha Massacre has happened.**

 **A few people have asked who is in the harem so here it is:**

 **Hinata Hyuga**

 **Tenten**

 **Shion**

 **Shizuka**

 **Karin Uzumaki**

 **Amaru**

 **I don't want the harem to be too big like The Monarch, also I wanted to use characters that aren't usually seen in harems or are used a lot in the canon story but serious underused.**

 **Also there will be not romance between them until Shippuden. I think 12 is too young for a proper relationship also I want to keep in fitting with the canon theme. The first part will be about building the friendships and cementing them while learning of the life of Ninja.**

 **Now don't forget to Favourite and Follow if you haven't and leave a Review to tell me how I'm doing. And finally, if you like Highschool DxD and haven't already, go and read my other story; The Monarch.**


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